Black Wolves
This fanlisting is for wolves with black fur. It's only a colour variation, black wolves rarely
occur outside of North America, except for the small population in Italy. They're gray wolves like
the arctic wolves who have a white fur.
The grey wolf or gray wolf (Canis lupus), also known as the timber wolf or wolf, is a mammal of
the order Carnivora. The gray wolf is the largest wild member of the Canidae family and an ice age
survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago. DNA sequencing and
genetic drift studies indicate that the gray wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog,
(Canis lupus familiaris) and might be its ancestor. A number of other gray wolf subspecies have
been identified, though the actual number of subspecies is still open to discussion. Gray wolves
are typically apex predators in the ecosystems they occupy. Gray wolves are highly adaptable and
have thrived in temperate forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, taiga, grasslands and even urban
areas.
Though once abundant over much of North America and Eurasia, the gray wolf inhabits a very small
portion of its former range because of widespread destruction of its habitat, human encroachment of
its habitat, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation. Considered as
a whole, however, the gray wolf is regarded as being of least concern for extinction according to
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Today, wolves are
protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to extermination as
perceived threats to livestock and pets.
In areas where human cultures and wolves are sympatric, wolves frequently feature in the folklore
and mythology of those cultures, both positively and negatively.